358 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



berries of the ivy are ripe, they should be 

 supplied with some. They will then succeed 

 very well. 



^ Let us add, that this pretty little fellow 

 sings very late on a fine evening. His notes 

 are then replete with harmony, and his heart 

 full of joy. As we now hear him daily, we 

 shall take an early opportunity of enlarging 

 on his merits. 



DELIGHTS OF SPRING. 



BY MAET HOWITT. 



Spring ! the beautiful Spring is come, 

 The sun shines bright and the bees now hum ; 

 And the fields are rich with the early flowers, 



Beds of crocus and daisies white, 

 And under the budding hedgerow, showers 

 Of the ficary, golden bright ! 

 Come, come, let you and me, 

 Go out and the primrose of spring-time see, 

 For many a pleasant nook I know, 

 Where the hooded arum and blue-bell grow, 

 And crowds of violets white as snow ; — 



Come, come, let's go! 



Let's go, for hark, 



I hear the lark ; 

 And the blackbird and thrush on the hill-side 



tree, 

 Shout to each other so merrily ; 



And the wren sings loud, 



And a little crowd 

 Of gnats in the sun dance cheerily. 

 Come, come ! come along with me, 

 For the tassels are red on the tall larch tree, 



And in homesteads hilly, 



The spathed daffodilly 

 Is growing in beauty for me and thee I 



OMINOUS " SIGNS OF THE TIMES." 

 BY THE MODEBN ARGUS. 



" Who says, ' the Times are out of joint !' " 



Laughing Philosopher. 



Lest such a prefix as we have chosen 

 should " fright some of our readers from 

 their propriety," — let us at once tell them 

 that we are not proposing to turn prophet, 

 or write bitter things against the present 

 generation for their misdeeds and shortcom- 

 ings, No ; we leave others to discourse 

 upon the portentous signs of the days we 

 live in, while we speak of the " Times" par 

 excellence, — that great Newspaper of the uni- 

 versal World, which, like Aaron's rod of old, 

 swallows up all pretenders. We have re- 

 cently had frequent opportunities for watch- 

 ing this great Leviathan of the Daily Press, 

 and for admiring the exquisite internal ma- 

 chinery* by which, almost imperceptibly, its 



* Within the last few weeks, the power of this 

 " internal machinery" has been again and again 

 manifested in the production, on several occa- 



materials are got together, digested, selected, 

 arranged, methodised, and at break of day 

 submitted, without any apparent effort, to the 

 careful examination of expecting tens of 

 thousands, all over the kingdom. The in- 

 terest felt by most of these in that broad- 

 sheet, no eye can penetrate, no thought can 

 divine. Yet are there countless multitudes 

 whose very existence depends on the issue 

 of each day's paper ! We have, ere now, 

 seen much of this. 



It is not for us to go into the why and 

 because of the popularity of the " Times," 

 and to give the reasons, totidem verbis, for its 

 being the only Daily Paper, — which it really 

 is. Amidst good report and evil repost — 

 " Laudatur ah his, culpatur ah illis " — 



it has always stood immeasurably at the 

 head of all competitors ; and even its bitterest 

 enemies are its most constant readers and 

 supporters. They cannot help it ! 



There are some half-dozen other Morning 

 Papers published. These, of course, do find 

 many readers ; but not one of such readers 

 will ever acknowledge to have seen " the 

 Paper " until he has first pored over the 

 " Times." We notice this palpable fact very 

 frequently. 



Mr. Gibson, M.P., has spoken oracularly 

 on this point. On the 21st of April, when 

 dwelling on the unequal bearing of the 

 " Stamp duty," in the House of Commons, 

 he remarked,-— " The retrograding circulation 

 of nearly all the London daily journals for 

 the last few years, makes it certain that all 

 the other journals must ultimately be dis- 

 placed by the ' Times.' " We think this 

 very likely. But to the object of the present 

 article. 



We want to show how a point may be 

 carried, by setting about it properly; and we 

 imagine we may do some good by offering a 

 few passing observations on this matter. We 

 have, of late, had occasion to visit the City 

 between the hours of two and four ; and on 

 a number of such occasions, we have gone 

 into the office of the u Times" with a view 

 to insert an advertisement. 



Struck with the great multitude of per- 

 sons of all classes, not only in the office, 



sions, of complete double sheets — that is, two 

 distinct papers, of eight pages each. For the 

 second paper (it being supplemental), no charge 

 is made. Both therefore are issued at the price 

 of one; viz,, Fivepence! It is, of course, greatly 

 prejudicial to the interests of the Proprietors to 

 do this ; but they are literally compelled to take 

 such a step, in order to keep pace with the influx 

 of new advertisements pouring in hourly. We 

 hardly need remark, that no other existing 

 Newspaper Establishment ever has any neces- 

 sity to produce two such sheets in one day ; yet 

 is it effected here repeatedly, and without any 

 difficulty whatever,— Ed. K. J. 



